For now, Corey Seager is atop the list by heads and shoulders as the best National League shortstop. He is just one of many young, talented shortstops in the Senior Circuit though as Trea Turner, Addison Russell, Paul DeJong, Amed Rosario, Dansby Swanson, and J.P. Crawford also have very bright futures.

Here are the projected starting shortstops in the National League ranked from best to worst. As a subjective list, many of the players can almost be considered interchangeable with each other as to where they should be ranked.

To see the projected American League starting catcher rankings, click here.

For National League, click here.

To see the projected American League starting first basemen rankings, click here. For National League, click here.

To see the projected American League starting second basemen rankings, click here. For National League, click here.

To see the projected American League starting shortstop rankings, click here.

1. Corey Seager - Los Angeles Dodgers

  • 2017 stats: 613 PA, .295 BA, .854 OPS, 22 HR, 33 2B, 0 3B, 77 RBIs, 85 R, 4 SB

Turning just 24 on April 27, the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year won his second straight Silver Slugger last year. Seager also cut his errors down from 18 in 2016 to 11 in 2017. While he didn't quite have the power numbers from 2016, he did raise his walk rate with 13 more last year despite 74 fewer plate appearances.

2. Trea Turner - Washington Nationals

  • 2017 stats: 447 PA, .284 BA, .789 OPS, 11 HR, 24 2B, 6 3B, 45 RBIs, 75 R, 46 SB

After finishing as the runner-up to Seager for National League Rookie of the Year in 2016, many expected a leap to superstardom from Turner heading into last year. Injuries played a role in it not yet happening as he appeared in just 98 games, but at 24 years old it may happen relatively soon.

3. Brandon Crawford - San Francisco Giants

  • 2017 stats: 570 PA, .253 BA, .709 OPS, 14 HR, 34 2B, 1 3B, 77 RBIs, 58 R, 3 SB

Crawford earned his third straight Gold Glove in 2017. It was a down year for him offensively though compared to 2016, although he did hit .283 after the All-Star break while only hitting .225 prior to the break.

4. Paul DeJong - St. Louis Cardinals

  • 2017 stats: 443 PA, .285 BA, .857 OPS, 25 HR, 26 2B, 1 3B, 65 RBIs, 55 R, 1 SB

DeJong finished as the runner-up to Cody Bellinger in National League Rookie of the Year voting last year. He didn't make his major league debut until the end of May after 33 games of raking at triple-A. While he exceeded all expectations, the team would like for him to improve on his near 6:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

5. Addison Russell - Chicago Cubs

  • 2017 stats: 385 PA, .239 BA, .722 OPS, 12 HR, 21 2B, 3 3B, 43 RBIs, 52 R, 2 SB

Russell is a superb defender at both middle infield positions, but he has yet to become a reliable offensive performer. He was a career .301 hitter in the minors so there is a reason to believe he can improve on his .240 batting average over his first three seasons.

6. Orlando Arcia - Milwaukee Brewers

  • 2017 stats: 548 PA, .277 BA, .731 OPS, 15 HR, 17 2B, 2 3B, 53 RBIs, 56 R, 14 SB

After going through some rookie growing pains in his 55-game stint in 2016, Arcia improved vastly as a hitter in 2017. While his 20 errors were the most amongst National League shortstops, his range still helped him grade out as a plus defender.

7. Trevor Story - Colorado Rockies

  • 2017 stats: 555 PA, .239 BA, .765 OPS, 24 HR, 32 2B, 3 3B, 82 RBIs, 68 R, 7 SB

Story didn’t enjoy the offensive success last year to the same extent as his rookie year of 2016 where he finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. His batting average dropped from .272 to .239, his OPS went from .909 to .765, and he led the league with 191 strikeouts.

He still had 59 extra-base hits though and was rated as a plus defender.

8. J.P. Crawford - Philadelphia Phillies

  • 2017 stats: 87 PA, .214 BA, .656 OPS, 0 HR, 4 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBIs, 8 R, 1 SB

Playing all through the infield, Crawford showed in his 23-game stint why he is a Gold Glove-caliber player. While he didn’t hit for a high average, his ability to draw walks (something he did well in the minors as well) gave him a .356 on-base percentage.

9. Freddy Galvis - San Diego Padres

  • 2017 stats: 663 PA, .255 BA, .690 OPS, 12 HR, 29 2B, 6 3B, 61 RBIs, 71 R, 14 SB

Galvis played in all 162 games for the Phillies in 2017 and posted career-highs in on-base percentage (.309), OPS, doubles, triples, and runs. He has stolen 41 bases over the past three years and hit 55 doubles and 32 homers over the last two.

10. Dansby Swanson - Atlanta Braves

  • 2017 stats: 551 PA, .232 BA, .636 OPS, 6 HR, 23 2B, 2 3B, 51 RBIs, 59 R, 3 SB

The first overall pick in 2015, Swanson was on many people’s short lists of National League Rookie of the Year contenders for 2017 after hitting .302 in 38 games in 2016. He earned a brief demotion to the minors with a .213 batting average through July 26 but went on to hit a much more respectable .268 through the remainder of the year after being called back up.

11. Amed Rosario - New York Mets

  • 2017 stats: 170 PA, .248 BA, .665 OPS, 4 HR, 4 2B, 4 3B, 10 RBIs, 16 R, 7 SB

What stands out most from Rosario’s first taste of the big leagues last year is that ugly three walks to 49 strikeouts ratio.

He’s only 22, though, and batted .328 in 94 games at triple-A in 2017. He was the eighth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America heading into last year.

12. Jordy Mercer - Pittsburgh Pirates

  • 2017 stats: 558 PA, .255 BA, .733 OPS, 14 HR, 24 2B, 5 3B, 58 RBIs, 52 R, 0 SB

Mercer has been a consistently steady hitter in his time with the Pirates, and his .255 batting average last year was just below his career mark of .256. His 14 home runs and 43 extra-base hits in 2017 were both career-highs. One of the more sure-handed shortstops, he has averaged just nine errors over the past three seasons.

13. Jose Peraza - Cincinnati Reds

  • 2017 stats: 518 PA, .259 BA, .622 OPS, 5 HR, 9 2B, 4 3B, 37 RBIs, 50 R, 23 SB

Receiving regular action for the first time, it wasn’t a very good season for the 23-year-old Peraza.

He recorded just 18 extra-base hits and 20 walks last year in 518 plate appearances. The Reds would love to see him back as the player who hit .324 in 72 games in 2016.

14. JT Riddle - Miami Marlins

  • 2017 stats: 247 PA, .250 BA, .637 OPS, 3 HR, 13 2B, 1 3B, 31 RBIs, 20 R, 0 SB

Called up a couple weeks into the season, Riddle became the Marlins’ everyday shortstop until his injury in July. He showed value in manning the position, but the team would love to see him improve on his .282 on-base percentage. He has just 22 homers in 384 games in the minors so he will never be expected to provide much power.

15. Nick Ahmed - Arizona Diamondbacks

  • 2017 stats: 178 PA, .251 BA, .717 OPS, 6 HR, 8 2B, 1 3B, 21 RBIs, 24 R, 3 SB

Ahmed was injured much of 2017 making 41 starts at shortstop. He hit .251 which was an improvement over his .221 career batting average heading into the season. He also owns only a career .273 on-base percentage.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED